Sherri Papini, a 34-year-old mother of two, managed to flag down a passing car in Yolo County and alert the authorities.

Tom Bosenko, sheriff of Shasta County, gave few details of the case but said the authorities had never ceased trying to find her.

Her husband Keith reported her missing after she failed to collect their two young children from day care. Sherri texted him at 10.37 am on November 2, to ask if he would come home for lunch. But he did not respond to her message until 1.39 pm because he was at work, he said.

Sherri and Keith Papini with their two children

When he arrived back at their empty home, he immediately used his "Find My iPhone" app to track his wife’s phone along the Oregon Trail.

Police and dozens of volunteers began searching the area around Mountain Gate, near Redding. A $50,000 reward was offered for any information.

“She was definitely taken against her will,” said Mr Papini, in a televised appeal for information.

Her mobile phone and headphones were found close to the site where she was last seen – 150 miles from where she was eventually left.

"We had not given up hope," said Mr Bosenko. "We are very thankful on this day that she was found safe and reunited with her family."

He said that authorities do not know if Mrs Papini knew her abductors, and they do not have information about exactly where she was kept or whether she was kept in the same place for the duration of her captivity. They do not know if the abduction was planned or done impulsively.

They do, however, know whether she spoke to her captors, but are not releasing that information due to the active investigation.

He said that there were no tips given to the police, and he did not believe a ransom had been paid.

Mr Bosenko said that police were now searching for a dark-coloured 4x4 and two women considered dangerous, armed with a hand gun.

"We will not rest until Sherri's captor or captors are identified and brought to justice," he said.